But Johnnie Cherneskie effected a recovery sufficient to keep him on track for a noteworthy showing in the National Prep Championships.

Cherneskie and Hill School teammate Nick Flanigan survived an action-packed first day of competition at Lehigh University, the only area grapplers from an originally-announced seven-man contingent to do so. In doing so, they qualified for medal-round competition when the tourney resumes at 8:30 a.m. with semifinal and fifth-round consolation bouts.

Cherneskie, the fifth seed at 182, opened with a 1-0 decision of Georgetown Prep’s Abraham Pishevar, then pinned Bishop O’Connell’s Michael Curtin less than a half-minute into the second period of their second-rounder. The Hill senior then dropped out of the championship bracket in the quarterfinals, pinned by Lawrence’s Isaiah Bellamy.

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But Cherneskie recovered for a 3-1 decision of Good Counsel’s Nick Miller, to finish the first day with a 3-1 record that upped his season mark to 28-6. He will resume action at Nationals today, matched against Lawrenceville’s Matthew Apuzzi.

Flanigan advanced to second-day action at 145 by going 4-1. Flanigan (37-10) started his day with a first-period pin of Beaver CDS’ Tyler Myrick, then came out on the short side of a 7-2 decision to McKinney Christian’s Sky Walker.

The Hill junior rebounded in strong fashion, posting two decisions and a fall in three rounds of consolation action. Flanigan’s quest for a medal finish will continue against Archbishop Spalding’s Cole Graves.

Chad Saunders fell short of medal contention, going 3-2 at 132. Saunders (37-8) saw his tourney run ended in a 5-2 loss to Northfield Mount Hermon’s Geoffrey Verallis — that after scoring a pin and two decisions, the fall coming in the first minute of his second-round consi bout with Westtown’s Lucas Neal.

West-Mont Christian Academy’s Zach Coffey bowed out in the early rounds of competition at 126.

Coffey went 1-2 on the day, opening with a technical-fall loss to Benedictine’s Ezekial Salvo. He rebounded in the consolation bracket with a 7-2 decision of Avon Old Farms’ Paul Huemme, then sustained another tech-fall loss to Aidan Conroy of Northfield Mount Hermon to finish his season at 20-5.

District 3: Two Daniel Boone grapplers saw their seasons end on the opening day of the District 3-AAA Tournament at Hersheypark Arena. Owen Powell and Christian Fernandez each sustained pairs of losses in their respective 106 and 138-pound brackets to bow out of the double-elimination competition.

Powell (32-13) was pinned early in his opening match at 106 with Solanco’s Connor Sheehan. Dropping into wrestlebacks, the Blazer freshman got on the winning track with an 8-4 decision of Middletown’s Levi Sterner. But he was ultimately halted by Oley Valley’s Ryan Fretz in a 16-12 loss.

Fernandez opened against Central Dauphin’s Tyson Dippery by sustaining a first-period fall. The Boone sophomore exited the tourney in the first round of consolations at 138, a technical fall at the hands of Cumberland Valley’s Alex Wolfe finishing him for the year at 30-14.

CO-ED SWIMMING

Easterns: Maddison Marcheskie led the Hill School with the highest finish. placing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a 24.23 on the opening day of the 113th Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships at La Salle Unversity. It was the highest finish for a Hill swimmer in many years.

The Easterns will conclude today at GAAC.

Marcheskie also swam on the Blues 200 medley relay that started the day, also advancing to the championship finals and placing sixth with a 1:51.11 and including Liz Cossel, Emily Glinecke and Payton Miles. Additionally, Marcheskie swam on the 200 free relay that closed out the first day advancing to the B finals and placing ninth with a 1:41.25 and including Miles, Gigi Tompkins and Glinecke.

Glinecke placed 19th in the 200 free (1:59.67), while Maddy Lutwyche placed 19th in diving (187.85), with both making their Eastens debuts as freshmen.

The Hill girls were in seventh place after the first day with 89 points in the field of 25 teams. Germantown Academy was in first place (309), followed by The Episcopal Academy (220), Peddie School (183), Phillips Academy (147), Mercersburg Academy (126), The Lawrenceville School (105), and then Hill.

The Hill boys highest finish was 18th in the 200 free relay with a 1:33.31, with Eric Dietrich, Brendan Metcalf, Andy McClung and Christ Schiavonne. Dietrich, a freshman, was their highest individual finisher, placing 21st in the 100 butterfly (55.82).

Ott advances: Perkiomen Valley diver Chase Ott placed eighth with a score of 397.60 at the District 1 Class AAA Diving Championships, qualifying for the PIAA Championships at Bucknell University next month..

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

Centennial Conference: The Ursinus College women are in first place after the first day of the 2013 Centennial Conference championships hosted by Franklin & Marshall, with a total team score of 195 points.

The night started with the Bears winning the opening 200-yard free relay in a time of 1:38.41. The team of Micaela Lyons, Corinne Capodanno, Amanda Lucock and Sarah Kolosky comprised the winning team, as they came just under two seconds from a NCAA Division III-B standard.

The Bears also won the B final as the team of Anne Ludwig, Briana Mullan, Rebecca Schroll and Chelsea Kozior won with a time of 1:40.95. In the 50 free, Capodanno finished first in the A final with a time of 24.46.

In the final event of the night, the team of Lair Ferrari, Kolosky, Schroll and Kozior was second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:01.58.

MEN’S SWIMMING

Centennial Conference: The Ursinus College men are in third place with 158 points after the first day of the 2013 Centennial Conference championships.

The Bears started the night session by taking fourth at 1:26.28 in the 200 free relay. The team of David Yazbeck, John Wieczorek, Alexander Pandelidis and Benjamin Jumper comprised the team.

In the 500 free, senior Scott Paine was fourth at 4:43.49. In the morning prelims, Paine was fourth at 4:44.75, In the 200 IM, Jacob Robinson was fourth at 1:56.00. Earlier in the day, he had finished fourth in the prelims at 1:56.05. Robinson’s 1:56.00 is a new school record.

In the final event of the night, the 400 medley relay, the team of Robinson, Hoops, Yazbeck and Wieczorek were fourth at 3:33.02, shaving 11 seconds off of their seed time. Paine, Quick, Pandelidis and Gershun were second in the B final at 3:33.90.

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS

West Chester 189.350, Ursinus 183.875: The Bears posted their second-highest score of the season, totalling a 183.875 in a meet with West Chester University. Ursinus posted a 47.000 on the floor, a 46.425 on the vault, a 46.000 on the beam and a 44.450 on the bars.

Starting with the floor, Kristina Steffenhagen (Boyertown Area) had a 9.675, which was a team high and was third overall. Sophomore Karina Marks posted a 9.550, while Stephanie Schmidt scored a 9.525. Monica Durham scored a 9.250 and Adelaide Hurlbert scored a 9.000, along with Dana Feigenbaum.

On the vault, Kristin Aichele was second overall at 9.600. Schmidt netted a 9.300 and Kaitlyne Brandau was third on the team at 9.275. Riley Acton scored a 9.150, followed by Johanna Warren at 9.100.

On the beam, Aichele was third overall and tops on the squad with a 9.475. Schmidt was fifth overall at 9.400. Steffenhagen was third on the team at 9.175, followed by Marks at 9.075 and Megan Bolash at 8.875.

On the bars, Acton posted a team-high 9.100, followed by Jamie Hammel in second place on the squad with a 8.900. Durham had an 8.850 with Warren netting a 8.825 and Erica Schnebel with a 8.775.